Elysian Space Navy
Elysian Space Navy, or ESN, was the name given to the collection of ships gathered by the prisoners from Hades, which fought the battle of Cerberus and then escaped to the Manticoran Alliance space. It wasn't separate organization from anti-Havenite forces in the Cerberus System, but rather its naval branch. ( ) Creation Elysian Space Navy was a pickup fleet composed of ships captured from Havenite forces sent to the Cerebus System by Allied POW's and other StateSec prisoners, after they gained control of Hades, the Republic of Haven's planetary prisonForce was needed to capture Styx Island's Camp Charon which had the StateSec garrison and the system defence controls.. The main aim of the Elysian Space Navy was evacuation of all the prisoners interested in escaping from Hades. It was also required to capture the ships in the first place, and fought one extensive engagement against a force organized by StateSec to recover Hades if it had been taken by a prisoner revolt. In Old Earth Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields were the portion of the Underworld (Hades) designated as the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous, and the name was suggested for the fleet by one of the escaped prisoners, Jesus Ramirez. Organization Personnel The personnel of the Elysian Space Navy were taken from escaped prisoners, mostly those who had been members of military forces conquered during Haven's expansion. A few members of Manticoran Alliance forces were avaialbe who had relatively recent experience on modern equipment, but many of the prisoners' military experience was decades old. :Main article: Personnel of the Elysian Space Navy Ships acquisition The ESN was built from captured Havenite ships, and consisted of 11 warships and 7 transports: * captured StatSec warships: ** Mars C-class heavy cruiser PNS Krashnark''CO, StateSec Captain Pangborn, ** ''Frigate-class light cruiser PNS Bacchante''CO, StateSec Commander of Vestichov * captured ships of the Shilo Force expedition: ** five ''Warlord-class battlecruisers: PNS Wallenstein, PNS Farnese, PNS Kutuzov, PNS MacArthur, PNS Barbarosa, ** three Mars B-class heavy cruisers: PNS Ares, PNS Huan-Ti, PNS Ishtar, ** Frigate-class light cruiser PNS Sabine, ** five Longstop-class transports, including: Mardi Gras''CO, Commander Talbot and ''Voyager, * two Roughneck-class Fast Attack Transports from StateSec General Chernock's joint forces task group. Order of battle Commanding Officer - Admiral Honor Harrington * executive officer - Commodore Jesus Ramirez ** [[ENS Krashnark|ENS Krashnark]] - CO, Captain (SG) Alistair McKeon ** [[ENS Bacchante|ENS Bacchante]] - CO, Captain Harriet Benson * Charon Control - Commander Susan Phillips First evacuation convoy CO, Captain Cynthia Gonsalves * [[ENS Sabine|ENS Sabine]] - CO, Captain Cynthia Gonsalves * five ''Longstop''-class transports Battle of Cerberus :See: Battle of Cerberus#ESN Operational history Capture of StateSec Shilo Force The Office of State Security planned to fortify the reconquered Seabring system using minefields and to pacify its inhabitants with the equivalent of two divisions worth of intervention battalions supported by full combat equipmentincluding battle armor, assault boats and heavy tanks. On October 12, 1913 PD the StateSec convoy from Shilo entered parking orbit over Hades to load 70 thousand prisoners for forced labor during the fortification. The convoy was ordered by Charon Control to drop its impeller wedges and shields. When a demand for surrender was transmitted, the CO of BC PNS Attila attempted to respond and the ship was destroyed by the orbital defenses. The explosion resulted in the near total destruction of two other warships - CA PNS Hachiman and CL PNS Seahorse. The rest of the convoy remained spaceworthy5 BC, 3 CA, 1 CL, 5 military transports. * the CO of the Shilo Force - StteSec Major General Prestwick Thornegrave, former State Security Commanding Officer in the Shilo sector, * CO of the Shilo Force fleet component - Commodore Rachel Yangemployed with her PN's staff. Battle of Cerberus :See: Battle of Cerberus Evacuation of prisoners * Oct 14, 1913 PD - the first evacuation convoy departed10 days before battle of Cerberus (HH8) * Oct 24, 1913 PD - battle of Cerberus - two more transport ships were seized2 years and 1 day from the disaster in the Adler Stystem (HH8) * Nov 24, 1913 PD - main forces of the Elysian Space Navy arrived in the Trevor's Star System24 days shiptime were equal to 30 dirtside days, plus at least one day for upload of passengers (HH9) * Dec 3, 1913 PD - expected date of arrival of the first evacuation convoy in the Trevor's Star System50 base days :See also: Anti-Havenite Forces in the Cerberus System#Prisoners extracted from Hades Controversy Honor Harrington organized the ESN using her Grayson rank of Admiral. As such, her command of the fleet was a prima facie violation of the Grayson Constitution; only the Protector was allowed to organize military forces, beyond the 50 armsmen permitted each Steadholder. Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX took the ESN into the Grayson Space Navy as a whole, creating form it the Protector's Own Squadron and appointing Admiral Harrington, the Protector's Champion, its permanent commander. ( ) References Category:Elysian Space Navy